The Other Black Girl
by Noxanomi Tyra
Summary: Everyone knows Bellatrix Lestrage, and Narcissa Malfoy. But does anyone really remember the third Black sister? The story of Andromeda Black-Tonks
1. The Middle Child

She hated the train ride to school. It was torture. She had to sit and listen to her sisters talk about boys, talk about muggles and how stupid they were, talk about how the wizarding world would be better off without them. Dromeda didn't get why. The whole thing seemed silly to her, really. She knew some mudblood Ravenclaws who were smarter than she was...She sighed some and looked out the window, day dreaming. She'd never find a boy that her parents or sisters would approve of.

"Andromeda," snapped her darker haired sister. "Really. It's like your head isn't even here. What _are _you thinking about?"

She turned her head slowly to look at Bella, and it was almost like looking in the mirror, despite a few minor differences and the fact that Bellatrix had two years on her. "Nothing, Trixie...I'm just tired. I didn't really sleep well last night, what with the storm and all blowing in."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes some and resumed chittering on about whatever nonsense it was with the youngest of the Black girls, Cissy.

Dromeda sighed gently, her breath fogging up the glass. She didn't like Cissy listening to the rubbish that Bella and their mother and father planted in her head. She knew that Cissy only went along with it because she was 13 and naive. She just wanted to be accepted, and to be liked by the other Slytherins, so she soaked up and hung on every word that Bella told her.

She watched the trees zip by below them, then the rivers, and more trees. The sight was familiar, it rarely changed, except with the seasons. This was the ride to Hogwarts.

Dromeda loved Hogwarts. She didn't know why Bellatrix bitched about it so much. Just last week, she had been whining about the school, and was thanking Merlin that it was her last year. After that, Narcissa had started to whine about how she hated school, and how everyone there was stupid, and that it smelled like muggles. Dromeda had kindly reminded her that 'muggle' was not a smell.

But she endured it, and she even played along sometimes, they were her sisters after all, her best friends.

She played with the little black bracelet around her wrist. Bella had had three bracelets made for them, each matching with a small silver "B" hanging from the twisted and braided black chord. Bella's was black and crimson, Cissy's, black and emerald. Dromeda's was black and purple, her favorite colour. She loved her sisters, she just wished they'd be kinder...

The train slowed and eventually stopped, meaning the arrival at school.

"Time to go back to this God-forsaken, hell-hole," Bella sneered, standing and grabbing her bag from the top rack.

"Yeah, Cissy chimed in, trying to reach her bag, but coming up too short. Dromeda, easily the tallest sister, stood and got it down for her, letting her hurry after Bella, before getting her own down and stretching before hurrying after her sisters. She'd lost them in the crowd and cursed under her breath. She made it off the train and spotted Cissy's platinum hair and started for it when a large, sandy-haired boy ran into her and knocked her right off of her feet and into the side of the train, her arm hitting the metal hard and she heard a pop. She gasped in pain and gripped her arm, her eyes flicking up to the idiot who'd run into her.

He had his hand out to her, in a gesture to help her up. She glared at it and stood up on her own, brushing herself off with her un-maimed hand.

"I'm right sorry 'bout that..." the boy said, awkwardly holding his hand there before slowly moving it to rub the back of his neck.

"As you should be," she snapped. "You could have killed me. Watch it from now on." She looked at his tie. It was gold and onyx.

Great, to top it all off, the guy was a Hufflepuff.

He smiled at her, and she had a flickering thought of how kind of a smile he had, how it lit up his eyes. "I'm still sorry. Let me make it up to you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're joking. Do you even see what House I'm in?" She looked around to see if she saw her sisters anywhere, and saw Cissy on a carriage with Bella, already headed up to school. She fought back a sigh. _Typical Bella and Cissy..._

"I'm not joking. I feel bad. It looked like it really hurt. Here," he said, putting his stuff down. "Hit me."

"Pardon me?" she said, giving him a blank look. This guy was loony, he must have been...

"Hit me, right here," he said, indicating a spot on his arm.

"I will do no such thing. I have never once been in a physical fight with someone, and I choose to keep it that way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to meet up with my sisters. They'll be worried," she lied. She doubted they even knew she was missing yet.

She rubbed her arm, which was still throbbing as she headed to get on a carriage. He was right behind her.

"I'm Teddy, by the way. Teddy Tonks. It's actually Theodore, but I hate it, so everyone calls me Teddy."

"Really, I don't care," she said, waiting for the next carriage. She wished he'd just leave her alone. Bella would kill her if she saw her talking to this Hufflepuff boy.

"Well what's your name?" he insisted. "Wait, let me guess. Slytherin House, and you have sisters..." He paused for a moment. "I know! You're one of the Black girls...Not Bella, not Narcissa...the other Black girl. Andromeda, right?"

She looked at him. "Now how the hell did you deduce that?"

He grinned. "Your trunk has your initials on it. Plus you look like your older sister. She's in the same year as me."

Dromeda just rolled her eyes some and went back to staring straight ahead, shaking slightly from the cold mist that had settled over the platform.

"Are you cold? Do you want my cloak?"

"What will make you leave me alone? Can you not see that I am uninterested? I am a Black. A pureblood, Slytherin Black. What makes you think that I even want anything to do with you."

He chuckled some. "Everyone says you're not like your sisters."

"And what does everyone know?" she snapped. "Maybe I'm exactly like my sisters. You do not know me, and don't think that you do, or that you ever will. Now, if you will _kindly_ excuse me, Mr. Theodore Tonks of Hufflepuff House, I would much like it if I could take this carriage up to the castle _alone._"

The carriage pulled up and she loaded it the best she could with her trunk and got inside. "Goodbye," she said shortly before clicking the door closed.

She saw quickly that he had a small smile on is face as he ran his hand back through his hair. She sighed as she sat back and rubbed her still-throbbing arm.

The carriage pulled up to the castle and she hurried inside, leaving her trunk to be unloaded by the care-taker. She hurried into the Hall and found her sisters, slipping into the seat across from them.

Bella looked up, surprised to see her, apparently not noticing she'd even been missing until she arrived.

"Where have you been then?" Bella quipped, pushing her dark hair out of her dark, smokey eyes.

"I got run into on the platform," she said quietly as the sorting started. "Some boy from Hufflepuff nearly ran me over and he knocked me back into the train. Thanks for waiting by the way," she said, letting some of the venomous sarcasm slip through.

Bella smiled at her and took her hand. "I'm sorry, Andy. We thought you were right behind us. You're always so quiet, we didn't even realize."

"It's because I can't get a word in edgewise when you two talk. It's like I don't exist."

"That's not true, Andy, and you know it," chimed in Cissy, taking her other hand over the table. "You're our sister, and we love you. We honestly thought you were on the next carriage, right behind us."

Andromeda sighed and squeezed her sisters' hands before letting go and putting them in her lap to watch the sorting.


	2. Hospital Wing

"Merlin's beard..." Dromeda groaned as she got undressed. She looked in the mirror at her arm. "Bloody hell..." she muttered. It was swollen and bruised and tender to the touch. "I think he nearly popped it out of the socket..." She poked it some and inhaled sharply through gritted teeth.

"What are you on about, Andy?" came the cool voice of one of her dorm mates, a red-haired girl with cool blue eyes named Katherine Greengrass.

Dromeda looked over at her and sighed. "Some boy knocked me over on the platform...He messed up my shoulder..." She turned so the other girl could see.

Katherine wrinkled her nose some. "Cover it up or something. That looks disgusting."

Dromeda rolled her eyes some as she pulled on her bed shirt. She whimpered some, the adrenaline had left her body, and her shoulder was really sore and stiff. She couldn't hardly lift it. She tucked her arm close to her side and tried not to make any sudden or jerky movements as she sat on her bed, brushing her hair out with her good arm.

Gwendolyn Parkinson, a rather pale and peaky girl with short dark hair, and smashed face that reminded Dromeda of a dog, came in, followed by two other girls that Andromeda really never really cared to learn the names of. They were just clones of Gwen anyways. They all gathered on Katherine's bed and started to talk about boys and other trivial matters.

"Did you see Lucius today? Wow. The summer must have been good to him," Gwen gushed.

"I know!" swooned Katherine. "I heard that he went to the Quidditch world cup with his family this summer, and they actually met the Ireland team."

"Really? That's so...wicked..." breathed the short blonde girl beside Katherine. Dromeda looked over at them and she thought for a moment that the girl's name might be Midge or Madge...But she couldn't be sure.

"It was so pathetic today, though," Gwen continued, over the blonded without so much as even an acknowledgement that she had spoken. "Did you see the way Little Cissy was trying to talk to him? It's so obvious that he wants nothing to do with her."

Dromeda's body tensed some. Now they were going after her sister? She stopped and looked at them, furious. No one started on her little sister. No one.

"I mean, really, he's two years older than her, why does she even think she has a chance?" Gwen was saying as she opened a package of peppermint toads and popped one in to her mouth. "What about you, Andromeda?" she said, turning to face the other girl in the room. "Why don't _you_ try to catch Malfoy's eye? You're older, you're his age. That way your sister won't make a fool out of herself."

Though the sudden turn of the conversation to include her startled her, Andromeda's eyes narrowed some. "Oh, you mean like the time in second year when you tried to kiss that sixth year, Davies? Yes, I wouldn't want her to make a fool out of herself like that," she hissed.

Gwen turned beat red. "Watch it, Black."

"Oh soak your head, Gwen. I'm not intimidated by you, nor am I scared of you. You just talk and talk and talk. You do nothing more. You're like an old dog who all they can do is gum at your ankles. Trust me, Gwendolyn, right now, you are gumming at the _wrong_ ankle. Don't mess with my sister. And just incase you did forget, Bella is also two years older than you, and she won't take lightly to you messing with Cissy."

Gwen's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Your big bad sister won't always be around to protect you, _Andy._ When she graduates this year, _you_ will be the oldest black sister in the school, and everyone knows that you're the weakest. Tell me, how would Mummy and Daddy react to knowing that you were talking to that Hufflepuff Tonks tonight on the platform?"

Dromeda's already-pale complexion paled even more. How did she see that? "For your information, _Gwen_, he ran into me on the platform, and knocked me into the train." She pulled up her sleeve some. "See?" She'd do anything to get them off of the topics of her sister and of that Hufflepuff.

Gwen made a face, getting distracted. "Oh that's so disgusting! Did you at least hex him or something?"

"No, I didn't. For one, I'm not starting off my school year in detention for instigating a duel on the platform. My parents would be even more displeased about that."

Gwen just shook her head. "You're becoming a sympathizer, Dearest Andy."

"I am not!" she defended. "I don't like them anymore than you do! It doesn't mean that I'm going to go around torturing and killing them!"

"Why?" Katherine said, jumping into the verbal exchange. "Our world is better off without them anyways."

Dromeda sighed. "Women don't kill or fight. That's all a man's job. Why should I ruin my life, trying to take care of something that my future husband should be doing for me? I'm not supposed to be working. That's the proper way for a pureblood woman to behave." At least, this is what she knew she should believe in.

Katherine smiled at her. "Well said, Andy. See Gwen, she is one of us. Gwen keeps saying that you're not like the other purebloods here, that you don't believe the same values that we do."

Gwen pursed her lips. "Katherine. Hush." She looked up to Dromeda and patted the spot on the bed beside her. "Join us, please."

"I really should go to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow and see if the nurse can do anything about my shoulder."

The other girl nodded some. "You should. It looks painful. Goodnight then, Andy."

"Night..." she said softly, getting into bed and covering up. She closed her eyes tight and tried to go to sleep with the chattering going on around her.

The following morning, Andromeda was up before the other girls. The sun was just starting to filter in through the grimy windows of the dungeon dormitory. She bathed as quickly as she could without hurting herself even more and got dressed in her uniform. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her uninjured arm and quietly made her way out of the dorm.

She reached the Common Room which was mostly void of life, other than the few students who had fallen asleep while pouring over last minute summer assignments and a couple or two whom had never made it up to a room.

She wrinkled her nose some. Some people had no decency.

She walked across the marble floor and to the entrance and pushed it open, slipping through. The school was completely quiet, and just starting to light with the sun, and magic candles were starting to go out in some parts of the castle.

Hogwarts never ceased to amaze her, she found herself thinking as she walked up the steps of the Great Hall towards the Hospital Wing. Magic never ceased to amaze her. She found herself wondering how muggles managed without it. Their lives must be horrible, and hard.

She turned down a long corridor and made her way along it quietly, the only sound was the swishing of her robes, and the soft _'thud'_ her black Mary Janes made on the stone floor. She slipped behind a large tapestry on the left, a little over halfway down the hall and mounted the staircase behind it, hurrying up it and being careful to miss the trick steps. She emerged behind the twin tapestry a floor below the infirmary and peaked out. Seeing that no one was around, she slipped out from behind it and hurried towards the stair case at the opposite end of the corridor.

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she mounted the set of marble stairs and hurried up the steps. She reached the door with a sigh of relief and pushed it open. The Hospital Wing was dark, and devoid of students at the moment, seeing as how it was only the first day of classes.

"Madame Caspian?" she called out softly, hoping not to startle the poor old woman.

Silence met her ears.

She sighed some and put her bag on the closest bed. "Madame?"

She heard the office door open and she looked up. But it wasn't Madame Caspian that was walking towards her.

"Oh you've got to be joking," she muttered as Teddy Tonks rounded the corner behind one of the dividing curtains, looking down at a small clipboard in his hands.

"Can I help y-oh. Hey, Andromeda."

"What are you doing up here? Where's Madame Caspian?"

He smiled at her. "I'm working for the school on the night shift as Healer. It's what I'm going to do after Hogwarts."

"So...Headmaster is letting a student...take care of other students?"

"Hey now," Teddy said, grinning. "To be fair, I passed all of my necessary OWLs with O's, and I'm taking all of the coursed I need to take and I'm doing very well. I'm top of my class."

"And how to you expect to go to class all day, and work here all night?" she questioned, going to cross her arms but winced. Her arm was worse today.

He frowned some. "Your arm is still bothering you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? You look surprised. I told you that you almost killed me!"

He gave her an apologetic smile. "I said I was sorry, and I offered to help you."

"No, you offered to make it up to me by letting me hit you," she reminded him.

He chuckled. "Well, I meant 'fix.'" He grinned, laying the clipboard down on the bed beside her bag. "Can I take a look?"

She bit her lip. "I'd rather wait for Madame..."

"You'll be waiting until lunch then," he informed her.

She groaned. "Why do you insist on making my life miserable and complicated?" she demanded, slipping her robe off and trying to get the sweater vest, emblazoned with the colors of her House, off of her body.

She whimpered some, her maimed arm not wanting to move.

He gave her a sympathetic smile and helped her with it. "Thanks," she grumbled.

He nodded and picked up the clipboard. "Since I'm not Madame Caspian, just a few things so I can put it on record?"

"Um...sure?" she said, unsure of what he was really asking.

"Name...Andromeda Black...What year or you?"

"Fifth..."

He nodded and scribbled it down. "Hair, brown, eyes..." He looked up at her and smiled. "Chocolate..."

Andromeda looked away.

He grinned and continued to take notes. "Injury, shoulder...Cause...Stupid dopey Hufflepuff boy wanting attention from a pretty girl on the platform..."

"Alright, alright, you're done." She pulled the clipboard away from him and tossed it on the bed. "Can you please just fix me?"

"Well, I don't know what's wrong with it yet."

"What do you mean you don't know what's wrong with it? YOU did it!" She stared at him like he was stupid.

He sighed. "I mean, I don't know if it's dis-located, or broken, or just really bruised. I have to look at it."

"How?"

He now looked at her like she was daft. "What do you mean how? How else do you think?"

Her eyes widened. "What? No! Oh no!"

Teddy sighed at her. "Look, I'm training for this. I'm not going to look, I'm not going to be a pig about it. I want to help you."

She looked around the giant ward and groaned some. "Fiiine...but if I catch you looking..."

He held up his hands in defense. "I'll be the perfect gentleman."

She made a face at him and undid a few buttons of her shirt and pulled the tie off, before looking up at him. "Turn around or something..."

He sighed and turned around. "And, my eyes are closed."

She nodded once. "Good."

She got the top undone enough and pulled her arm out, trying to keep herself mostly covered. She looked down at the clipboard of his that she'd thrown on the bed and looked what he'd written down.

**Name: Andromeda Black**

**Injury: Left shoulder**

**Cause: Accident on Platform**

There was noting on there the parchment about her eyes or hair. She fought back a small smile. He really thought her eyes looked like chocolate, and...did he really think she was pretty?

"Finished yet?" he said, making her jump some as it jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah..." she said.

He turned around and went behind her, examining her shoulder. "Does it hurt to touch?"

She nodded some. "Yeah. It's swollen."

"I can see that..." he said quietly. His breath ghosted over her bare shoulder and caused goosebumps to shoot up all over her body.

Teddy ran his hand gently over the injury and she inhaled sharply, out of habit, but it didn't hurt. He had gentle hands, soft, smooth, comforting. She closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing even.

"It looks dis-located," he informed her, feeling her shoulder some more. He never once tried anything unprofessional. He evidently took this very seriously

"Awesome. Can you fix it?" She opened her eyes and looked at him over her shoulder.

"Well, here's the thing. I'm not as good at magically fixing dislocations as Madame is. But, having grown up in the muggle world, I learned how to do it that way. I can do that and then give you a numbing save and the pain will be gone in an hour or so..."

She bit her lip. She'd never done anything the muggle way.

He looked at her with his clear eyes.. "It's up to you. I can do either way, or you can wait until lunch..."

She sighed. "Just do it your muggle way, and you'd better hope that it fixes the problem..."

He smiled some. "It will, don't worry. I'll be right back."

She sighed and stood, waiting for him to come back, which he did quickly and handed her a rag, rolled up.

"What's this for?" she inquired.

"Bite on it. It hurts. Magical or muggle, it hurts. Biting that helps, trust me."

"Is it clean? Is it sanitary?"

He rolled his eyes some. "Just bite the damn cloth."

She pursed her lips at him and put it in her mouth.

"On three then," he said. "One...two..." and he twisted her arm and popped it back into place.

Tears ran down Dromeda's face as she cried out into the cloth. "What the fuck, you said on three!" she screamed at him, pulling the rag out of her mouth and turning on him.

"If I would have done it on three, you're body would have tensed and it would have caused more damage than good. And I thought pureblood ladies didn't swear like that..." he said, smiling some at her, making her blush. "Move it, how's it feel?"

She slowly moved her arm and found that she had her full range of motion back, with only a dull ache at the joint. "It's better, thank you..." she said, wiping her eyes off.

Teddy handed her a handkerchief, trimmed in yellow. "Here, clean your eyes off... You're makeup is running."

She took it and blotted at her eyes. "Thanks."

"Not a problem, glad I could help. You're my first victim, I mean...patient." He grinned at her.

She couldn't help but to smile and giggle some at him. He was quirky, different than the pureblood boys she was used to. He had a sense of humor, and a personality. And he was kind, it was the one thing she couldn't keep from noticing about him.

Teddy yawned some and stretched rubbing at his eyes.

"You look tired," Dromeda noted, picking up her bag.

He nodded. "I'm exhausted. I only slept about two hours before going on shift at 11 last night. I think I'm going to grab some breakfast and go to bed."

She smiled at him. "Well, good luck...and thanks..." She slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave. "Bye..." She took a few steps towards the door.

"Oh, and Hufflepuff?" she said, looking back over her shoulder, her dark brown curls falling into her eyes.

He smiled. "Yes, Miss Black?"

"Next time that you think it's a good idea to run over a pretty girl over, just to get her to notice you...well, don't."

She turned and walked out the door, hearing him chuckle behind her as the door shut heaviy and she made her way to breakfast.


	3. Love and Hogsmeade

"Rudolphus told me that he thinks Mum and Father think that we are a good match," Bella was saying as Dromeda sat down across from them at breakfast.

The hall was still pretty empty, as it was still fairly early in the morning.

Dromeda dumped her bag onto the seat beside her and took in all the food on the table. She was so hungry.

Bella looked over at her, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised. "Being held up by Hufflepuffs again?"

Dromeda rolled her eyes at her sister. "Bells, drop it please? I was in the Hospital Wing, getting my arm taken care of. The bloody idiot dis-located it and I needed it put back in place. I'm not that late am I?" she said, glancing around at the still somewhat empty hall.

She saw Teddy at his table, high-fiving some of his friends, and laughing. She smiled a little before dropping her gaze back down to her two sisters.

Bella nodded some and took a bite of her muffin. "Does it feel any better now?"

"Yes, actually, it does." She smiled. "The swelling went down too. What were you saying about Rudolphus and you?"

Bellatrix grinned at her. "He was telling me last night that he had spoke with Father and that both he and Mum feel that we are an excellent match, a fine pureblood coupling."

"That's great Trixie!" Dromeda said, genuinely happy for Bella. She didn't much care for the brooding, dark-haired boy, but Bella seemed to be infatuated, and their parents approved, so why not be happy for her? There were few things in life that made Bella happy.

Cissy was almost zoning out at this point, her gaze lingering at the other end of the table. Dromeda followed her gaze and sighed. Lucius was leaning on the end of the table, idly chatting with a few friends. He was cool, no real smile on his thin lips, and he was tense, dignified in a manner. He was nothing like the care-free Hufflepuff that seemed to be trying to wiggle his way into Andromeda's life.

Cissy let out a soft groan and turned back to her sisters. Bella was looking at her. "Really, Cissy? You have to fancy Malfoy? Of all the blokes in this House that you are suited for, you have to pick him? He's a year ahead of you."

Cissy looked up at her. "Bells, you don't understand. He talks to me, I think he really does fancy me too...I think he's just nervous of what his friends would think if he actually asked me to go steady."

"You are 13, Cissy," Andromeda cooed softly, taking her sister's hand. "You don't really understand what 'going steady' is."

"Yes I do!" she cried out in defense. "It means courting! He wants to court me!" The two older girls jumped some at her outburst and looked at their younger sister.

"Darling, you're being delusional," Bellatrix tried to reason with her, going to hug her with her free arm..

"No, you are!" she yelled, grabbing her bag and storming out of the hall.

"Bloody hell..." Dromeda whispered in shock. "What do think is wrong with her?"

Bella sighed, dropping the rest of muffin onto her plate. "I really haven't the faintest. She has been so moody lately."

Dromeda nodded some. "Why do you think she fancies Malfoy so much? He doesn't play Quidditch, he isn't really all that intelligent..."

Bella laughed some. Dromeda smiled, she liked to make her sister laugh. "This is true," Bella acknowledged. "But she thinks he is a handsome bloke, and she's going to get her heart broken if she doesn't snap out of it." She picked up her bag and looked down at Dromeda as she stood up. "Are you coming?"

Dromeda nodded and brushed the crumbs off of her hands, taking final quick swig of her pumpkin juice and grabbing her back, hurrying after her sister.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Dromeda finally soke up. "So, d'you think that Rudolphus will ask you to marry him?"

Bella paused, mid-step, but only for a split second. The question had apparently caught her off guard. She resumed walking immediately, her stride long and confident, like always.

"I'm sure he will," Bella said softly.

Dromeda looked at her. "You don't want him to? I thought you were happy that Father said that you were a good match for one another..."

"I never..." Bella sighed and turned to look at her sister. "I never saw myself getting married. I mean, yes, I always knew I would, it's what we do, we marry to keep the bloodlines pure, and Rudolphus is a really good man, strong beliefs in pureblood, everything a good husband should be. But now it is coming very fast and it's not just thoughts anymore. I'm going to have to actually get married..."

Dromeda smiled a little at her elder sister. "Trixie...It won't be so bad. If you love him-"

"Love?" Bella cut across with a harsh laugh. "Please, Dromeda. Love doesn't exist. If we all married for love, what do you think our world would be like? There would be mudbloods and suibs running amuck everywhere. No one marries for love, or if they do, it's very rare. Do you think Father and Mother love each other?"

Dromeda blinked some. "I always thought they cared for one another, yes..."

"Well, yes, of course he cares about her. He's not going to kill her, or let anything terrible happen to her, or to us, for that matter, but I doubt he loves her. He would not be the man that he is if he married Mum for love. I would assume that they were friendly with each other in school, and their parents thought it a good match. They grew to be close to one another."

"So..." Dromeda said slowly, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "You don't love Rudolphus?"

She laughed again. "Not in the very least. As I said, he's a good man, a good pureblood husband, and I am sure that he will take excellent care of me and whatever family we decide to have, but I don't love him. I care for him slightly more than I care for others outside of the family, but I do not love him."

With that, she turned the corner and strode off down the hall that led to her first class of the day. Dromeda sighed heavily and wandered down the hall towards her Herbology class.

The sun outside was bright, shining across the grounds of Hogwarts. It was now late October, and the school year was as boring as ever. Dromeda was swamped with homework and essays to write, but today was a Hogsmeade day, and she didn't really care about all of her responsibilities. She wanted out of that castle and to just wander mindlessly around the village for a few hours.

She pulled her cloak around her more as she walked along the path, alone. Cissy was sick and whining with a stomach ache and wanted to stay in bed. Bella had said something about wanting to spend the day alone with Rudolphus. This all led to the fact that Dromeda had to go to Hogsmeade alone.

She didn't keep many other friends other than her sisters. She was somewhat shy, and she didn't really like the people in her House. No one really knew how to laugh. It was all of this pureblood mania nonsense, and not near enough trying to have fun and be a kid.

She stepped to the side when she heard a group of rowdy boys coming down the path behind her. They were laughing and carrying on, singing loudly at the top of their lungs. They came barreling past her tripping and laughing hysterically, like someone had just told the best joke. One of the boys jumped on the rest of the group unexpectedly and the other three dropped him and that just caused them to laugh more.

Dromeda smiled some to herself. One would never see Slytherin boys having fun like that, and just enjoying life. They were more into being dignified.

"Bunch of bloody gits, don't you think?" said a voice from directly behind her.

Dromeda jumped and grabbed at her chest over her heart, spinning to face the owner of the voice.

Teddy.

She glanced around them. Aside from the boys, they were alone. She smiled some at him. "I wouldn't say gits. They look like they're having a good time."

He grinned at her, falling into step beside her. One of the boys from the group turned around to yell back for him. "Oi! Ted! You coming mate?"

He just held up a hand to wave them on, before dropping it back down and putting it into his pocket.

She fought back a small blush. Why was he blowing off his friends just to talk to her? "So they're you're bloody gits?" she asked, pulling her hair down to hide her face.

He chuckled some. "Yes, that they are. Jeff and Riker are on the Quidditch team, but Blaine, Kurt and I just hang out with them. We're all in the same year and we sort of became like a band of brothers in the dorms."  
>"It must be nice to have such good friends," she said, casting another quick, yet paranoid look around them.<p>

He smiled down at her. "Why are you so on edge?"

She looked up at him, a bit startled by the question. "I...don't know what you mean."

"Ha!" he laughed. "You look over your shoulder every five seconds to make sure that your sisters, or anyone else from your House isn't around to see you talking to me."

She sighed. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, our Houses don't exactly make the best of mates..."

He pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his dragon-hide leather jacket. "I didn't think you would be one to care about that sort of stuff."

She gave him a look. "What are you talking about? You don't even really know me. We talked twice at the beginning of the year, and again now. That's three times in roughly two or three months. You don't know me, nor the first thing about me."

"I'd like to," he told hersoftly.

She completely forgot that she was walking and she stumbled a bit, her eyes wide. "_What_?"

He smiled at her some. "I said that I'd like to. I'd like to get to know you better."

"Um...Why?" It was the only thing that she could think of to say to him.

He shrugged. "First of all is the fact that you didn't kill me that night on the platform. Second is the fact that you didn't hex or curse me in anyway. But you did put a spell on me that night." He was grinning now as he looked into her confusion-ridden face.

"I didn't! I didn't even know where my wand was that night!" she cried defensively.

He chuckled, taking her hand and stepping in front of her to stop her. Her eyes darted all over, trying to see if anyone at all could see them standing there like that, a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff, together.

"You put the spell of infatuation on me. I can't get you out of my head. There is something so real about you. You're not a snob, you're not obsessed with all of that pureblood bullshit that most of your lot is. But you're not easy either. You keep me at a distance always, but I don't want to be at that distance. I want to get to know you..."

She was horrified. "You are the daftest boy I have ever met..." she muttered, pulling her hand away from his, only to have it snatched back up by him almost immediately.

"I don't really care. I fancy you."

"What? No. No, you can't!"

"Why? Because of your family?"

"Yes! Do you know what they would do to you if they found out that you had eyes for me? They would kill you! And I don't mean figuratively!"

He sighed some. "Then at least agree to be friends, and let me see if I want to take that risk?"

"Friends? Why?"

He just gave her a look. "What do you mean 'why?'"

She sighed and sat on one of the boulders protruding from the side of the hill. "I'm two years younger than you. I'm in a _completely _different House than you, as I am a different class of wizard all together. And I'm a girl. What makes you think there will be anything in common between us to even have a friendship?"

He shrugged again, standing in front of her, the wind blowing his sandy hair around his eyes. "I just know that something about you keeps pulling me in deeper and deeper, and I feel like I have to know you, or I'll...or I'll die!" he said dramatically flopping into the grass at her feet.

She blinked, then smiled a bit before giggling. "Hush down, some one will hear you..."

He grinned up at her, playing with the grass, pulling it out and twisting it around his fingers. He looked so cool, lying there in the grass, aloof even, like nothing mattered. It made her smile.

"So we can be friends?" he asked hopefully, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, standing up and brushing herself off. "Slytherins and Hufflepuffs are _never_ seen together. There's no way I would ever want to be associated with the likes of you." She took a step towards him and winked at him with a small grin, her eyes saying otherwise. "In your dreams, Hufflepuff..."

She stepped around him to walk away, and he turned and watched her, grinning.

As she flipped the hood up on her cloak, she heard the boy behind mutter a triumphant, "YES!"

She just shook her head and smiled. This year was about to get a lot more interesting.


	4. Christmas Holidays

The Christmas holiday was rapidly approaching at Hogwarts. The normal gigantic tree was set up in the Great Hall, glittering with enchanted fairy lights, and decorated in all four of the Hogwarts House colours. The students who were going home for holiday were already gone, on the Hogwarts Express headed for King's Cross.

Andromeda sighed as she sat alone at dinner that night, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she picked at the food on her plate. She couldn't believe that she was stuck at school, alone, at Christmas time.

Bella was going to stay with the Lestrange family over break, so she could spend some time getting to know her future in-laws. She seemed quite anxious to go, more so than Dromeda had ever seen her to do anything before.

Lucius had finally plucked up the courage, and, much to the surprise of both of the elder Black girls, asked to Cissy to be his girlfriend. She had convinced their parents to let her go along with him and his family to Romania for break. It was beyond Dromeda as to why anyone would choose to go to Romania, especially in the winter months, but Cissy was happy and Dromeda wasn't going to burst her peppy little bubble.

That left the matter of Dromeda's parents. Since two of the three daughters, the favored two daughters, had made their own plans, so did Mr. and Mrs. Black. They had written to Dromeda, telling her that she should stay at school for break because they were going on some sort of "romantic" get-away together, and wanted to be alone.

The letter had devastated her when she received it at breakfast the previous morning. She's spent an hour in the girls' loo, crying about it.

She sighed heavily again, pushing her plate back from her, too upset to even eat.

A little pouf of fluff fluttered down onto the table beside her arm and she looked over. Rembrant her little grey and white owl, chirped at her as he eyed some of her dinner roll. She tore off a piece and broke it up for him, letting him nibble it out of her hand.

She watched him, smiling some for the first time in two days. Rembrant was a tiny little whet-saw owl, small even for his breed. Dromeda had gotten him in Diagon Alley before she started her first year at Hogwarts. She'd fallen in love with him when he'd fallen off of the perch above her at his feet. He was a doppy little thing, but he was a cuddle bug, and he was always warm. She loved him to pieces.

He chirped at her again, wagging his leg at her. Her eyebrows knitted together as she untied the tiny piece of parchment from his leg. He purred a little at her and watched her, pecking at her roll some more.

Dromeda ignored him as she smoothed out the piece of paper.

'Cheer up, Dromeda. You're much too beautiful to look so sad. It's a cloudy day when you frown...' It was signed with a sunshine, a smiley-face, and a messy embellishment that read 'Hufflepuff.'

She giggled some, looking around for Ted in the Hall. It was safe, all the Slytherins had gone home for break, leaving only a gaggle Gryffindors, a handful of Hufflepuffs, and most of the Ravenclaw house. She assumed that the Ravenclaws only wanted unlimited, uninterrupted access to the Library.

Rembrant looked up and around too, searching for the boy that'd caught him in the owlry and chirped, flying over to the opposite end of the Hall and out of Dromeda's sight.

She read the note again, and it made her smile. Ted was so sweet to her.

Ever since that day in Hogsmeade, he'd send her little notes with questions on them, about herself, her family, her likes, her dislikes, anything imaginable, as he tried to get to know her and figure her out.

It was so sweet, so charming, and so extraordinarily goofy that Dromeda gave in to the boy's dopey charm and opened up to him. As of recent, she'd found herself falling into fancy with him. She knew it was dangerous, for the both of them, but this boy was unlike any Slytherin pureblood, and he treated her like a person, and a friend, not a potential heir-begetting machine.

She felt someone sit next to her and she looked up, a grin spreading over her face. "Hello, Theodore."

He groaned some as he let Rembrant off of his shoulder and back onto the table. "Can't you call me Teddy like everyone else?"

She giggled. "Since when am I everyone else, Tonks?"

He grinned, leaning on the table and pulling over a plate for himself and loading it up with food. "This is true. You're not like everyone else. You're a Slytherin with a Hufflepuff fascination. Quite daft of you, really..." he noted, biting into a bit of his Shepherd's pie. "Merlin is this good. I'm starving."

Dromeda laughed at him. "Why do boys eat so much?"

"Honestly?" he said as he swallowed his bite. "I have no idea. It's in our design. Big stomachs, little brains." He winked at her, taking another bite.

She shook her head at him as he shoved his mouth full of food. He finished off his first plate and went back for seconds.

"Aren't you going to finish yours?" he said, noting the plate of food still on the table in front of her.

Dromeda shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry, though I'm sure that's something that you couldn't possibly understand."

He swallowed his bite and pushed his plate back a little, looking into her eyes. "What's bothering you?"

She shook her head, her brown curls whipping around her head a bit, then falling to cover her eyes as she looked down at the table. "It's nothing."

"Ah. One thing I learned, love," he said, putting a finger under her chin, and making her look into his face while he brushed her curls back, "is that with you women, nothing is never nothing. It's always something."

She swallowed hard as she gazed into his kind face for a moment before pulling back, her cheeks twinging pink. "My family abandoned me at Christmas. My own parents didn't want me home. I mean, granted, they don't like me much, but still...I thought I'd at least get to go home for holidays..."

He smiled some. "Who could ever not love you?"

"Teddy..." she growled softly, punching his arm gently, but she couldn't help but to smile. "Stoppit."

He smiled back at her. "But I got you to smile. No one as pretty as you should ever be sad. You have the kindest eyes out of anyone I've ever met. The kind and happiness that always shines in them should never be clouded over by sadness..."

She looked up at him. "Do you rehearse what you're going to say in front of a mirror or write it down out of books or something? You speak in poetic prose, and while extremely beautiful and alluring, it's also quite unnatural, and some one cheesy."

He laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're the muse to my soul."

She just shook her head and shrugged it off as typical Teddy Tonks. He'd been like this since she'd started talking to him, and she assumed he'd always be that way.

They sat together, sometimes talking, sometimes not, at the dinner tables until the Hall was pretty empty.

"It must be getting late," he noted as he looked up and around. "Everyone's gone..."

Dromeda pulled her attention away from her immediate company and looked around as well. It was empty. The night sky over head was crystal clear with bright, sparkling stars. "Looks that way," she said quietly, stroking Rembrant's head to wake him up. He'd fallen asleep against her goblet of pumpkin juice and had been softly snoring for the last hour or so. He woke up and blinked his big yellow eyes sleepily at her. She picked him up, kissing his head, and sent him off to the owlry.

Teddy smiled as he watched her, not being able to stop himself from thinking about how adorable, and beautiful, and kind she was.

Dromeda stood up and stretched, yawning a little. "Well, I guess this is goodnight then," she said, yawning again.

He chuckled. "You know, as a school prefect, I think it's much safer if I were to walk you back to your dorms."

She rolled her eyes some, but smiled. "Alright, if it'll make you feel better about yourself."

"It will," he assured her, offering her his arm.

She shook her head, biting back a giggle, and took his arm. He escorted her out of the hall and slowly they made their way to the dungeons where the Slytherin Common Room was. They arrived at the statue outside and Dromeda let go of his arm.

"Thanks for walking me back. You didn't have to, honest," she told him as they stood together against the wall.

He held up a hand. "It was nothing. I wanted to. I just wanted to make sure you got here alright. I didn't want something to happen to you."

She shook her head and put her hand on the statue of the snake, muttering the password. The entrance came to life and moved out of the way. "Goodnight, Teddy," she said shyly as she went to go in.

He grabbed her hand. "Wait, Dromeda...I...I wanted to ask you something."

She stopped and slowly turned to face him, looking up into his eyes. "Yes? What is it?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, still holding hers with the other. "I...I was wondering..." he started. "We've been friends for...well, for roughly three months. And I know something now for sure that I thought I new when I met you in September."

"And...what's that?" she said nervously, biting her lip. She knew where this was going...

"You're worth it," he whispered, pushing her hair back behind her ear, his hand gently stroking her cheek as he stared down into her eyes. "You're more than worth it to me."

"My family could kill you," she warned him softly, his lips getting closer to hers.

"I don't mind."

"You might be kidnapped and tortured..."

"That's alright."

"You'll probably be..." she said, searching for excuses, but coming up empty. He was worth it. "Oh...fuck it..." she muttered as she pulled him down, his lips crashing onto hers.

Teddy let out a surprised noise, but she felt his lips curve into a smile as his hand held her neck and his arm circled around her waist, pulling her body closer to his.

After a few moments, she pulled back, gazing up into his eyes. He was grinning back down at her, his hands still on her.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," he muttered, touching his forehead to hers and making her giggle.

"Honestly, neither was I," she confessed, putting her hands on his shoulders.

He chuckled too as he held her. "So's this mean you'll be my girl now? Finally?"

She laughed at that. "I should just let you figure that one out on your own."

"That wouldn't be very nice," he warned, his fingers twitching on her waist, making her squeak.

His smile curved into a mischievous smirk. "Oh we're _ticklish,_ are we?"

Dromeda's eyes widened. "Teddy...Teddy no!" she squealed trying to pull from his grasp, but it was too late.

He had her captured as he tickled her. She screamed and squealed with laughter, making him laugh.

She finally managed to wiggle away from him and leaned against the Common Room entrance, panting and giggling.

He grinned at her, leaning on the wall beside her. "So do I get an answer?"

They heard voices of professors echoing off the stone walls, probably coming to see if someone had been murdered or what was going on.

Dromeda grinned up at him and pulled him down for a second, quicker kiss. "Your answer?" she grinned up at him, stepping into her Common Room. "It's a yes," she told him quickly before shutting the door and leaning on it.

From the other side she heard him talking with professor Slughorn. "Mr. Tonks...why are you down here? Who was screaming?"

"Oh the screaming professor? That was me. I thought I saw a rat, then I had to laugh at my own stupidity..."

Dromeda giggled some as she skipped across the Common Room and up the steps to her dorm.

This was going to be the best Christmas holiday ever.

She got ready for bed and climbed in, covering up and closing her eyes. Only one thing flittered through her head as she started to drift off.

_How do you hide this from your family, Andromeda?_

She was screwed.


	5. Christmas

Christmas morning dawned on Hogwarts cool and clear. The sun glittered off of the fresh fallen snow as if millions of diamonds had been scattered across the surface of the white blanket in the night.

The sun filtered down through the window and onto Andromeda's face. She made a small noise of protest at the bright light and went to roll away from it, back into the shadows of her bed, but something was draped across her waist, holding her where she was.

Her eyebrows pulled together in a frown of confusion and she opened her eyes, looking downwards to see what was keeping her from going back to sleep.

An arm was draped across her slender figure, holding her in a firm, yet gentle grip.

She frowned more, even more confused now, as she rolled back over, back to facing into the sun. She blinked in the brightness, trying to clear her eyes.

When her eyes cleared, she was looking into the handsome face of Teddy.

Her confusion melted away into happiness as her grogginess disappeared and she recalled why they were there together.

They'd spent Christmas Eve together in the Room of Requirement. Both had been too tired to return to their Common Room, so they'd ended up crashing on the floor, on a pile of cushions and pillows.

She glanced around the room now, seeing that it still looked the same as it had the previous night. A fire still crackled low in the small fireplace. The pile of Exploding Snap cards still lay in a pile on the small table that was in between two over-stuffed chairs. Dromeda also saw that the mug of hot peppermint tea she'd been drinking in honor of the holiday was still setting on the table too. The only thing to have changed in the room from the night before was the fact that there was now a rather large Christmas tree, done up like one that might be set up at Dromeda's home, setting in a corner near the chairs. Another difference was the fact that Teddy seemed to now have her in some sort of death grip.

That wasn't how they'd fallen asleep the previous night.

It had been getting late and Dromeda had been too lazy to go back to the Slytherin dorms, so Teddy, promising to be the epitome of the word "gentleman," suggested that they crash in the Room of Requirement, so that they could just wake up in the morning and spend the whole of Christmas day together. The last thing Dromeda remembered was Teddy playing with her hair as they lay on the pillows, humming Christmas carols to her. Muggle Christmas carols. She had laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes growing heavy and she must have fallen asleep like that and he just let her rest.

Teddy stirred a bit, letting out a soft snore, making Dromeda giggle. She stroked his sandy locks softly, watching him be at peace.

He'd been so stressed out lately, taking NEWT prep classes, as well as serving a good number of training hours at St. Mungo's. In a few days, Teddy would be leaving the school to spend the rest of his Christmas holiday in London at the hospital doing an intern. She didn't know how he managed to do all that he had to do, and still make time for her and his normal schoolwork, but he did it. Somehow.

His face wrinkled up and he groaned some, the sun finally hitting his face. He let her go so he could fling his arm over his eyes to block out the obnoxious brightness.

She laughed out loud at that move and sat up so she could stretch, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

She wiggled her toes some under the blanket over her as she pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them.

She glanced around the room again before kicking the blanket off her body and getting up. She went over to the tree and looked at all of the tiny, delicate decorations that covered the tree, making it glitter.

Little candles sat nestled among the branches, making it shine as the tiny flames danced. A tiny shimmering hippogriff flapped its miniature wings as it hung form one of the higher boughs. There were plenty of other pretty ornaments, but this particular one captured her attention. She reached her hand up slowly to touch him, to touch the carved crystal feathers that glittered like diamonds, to see if it was really as soft as it looked, but the tiny creature bit and scratched at her.

"Ouch..." she said softly, sucking on the wound. "Why would you do that?" she asked it, as if it would answer her back.

She felt a pair of arms slide around her waist, pulling her body backwards. She felt Teddy's soft breath in her ear as his face nestled into her hair. "You didn't bow to him first..." he breathed.

She shivered some, smiling. "Happy Christmas, Teddy..."

He chuckled as he held her. "Happy Christmas to you, Dromeda," he cooed, spinning her towards him and he took her injured hand in his.

He singled out the injured digit and kissed it, looking into her eyes.

She blushed. "Thank you..."

He grinned at her and reached behind his back, pulling out a small box, wrapped in shimmering green and purple paper topped with a glittering purple poof of ribbon.

She gasped a little. "Teddy! What did you do?"

He chuckled again. "Don't fuss at me. It's not much, I promise. I just figured that it's our first Christmas together, so I should have something to give you..."

She took the small box in her hands and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you. Where were you hiding this all night?"

He grinned his mischievous grin at her. "Room of Requirement, love. It gets you what you need."

She giggled some and pulled the ribbon off and stuck it into her hair, making Teddy smile more. She slipped her finger under the edge of the paper, and pulled it open. She ripped the paper the rest of the way off and balling it up into a little ball.

In her hand she now held a small purple and velvet box.

She looked up at him. "You really payed attention when I said that my favourite colour was purple, didn't you?" she teased him.

He just beamed proudly at her, pleased with himself that he'd done good so far.

She grinned more at him and opened the box, gasping some. "Teddy...it's...wow. It's beautiful!"

Inside lay a silver pendant, shaped into something that Dromeda vaguely recognized as an ancient rune, the run itself seeming to glow from within.

The silver of the rune dipped down and curled back up, like a fishing hook almost, with second swirl coming off of the main shaft and curling back up in the same fashion. Both swirls had small hooks on the end. It was beautiful and delicate, yet fierce looking at the same time.

"Do you know what it is?" Teddy asked as he watched her looking at the pendant.

She shook her head a little as she ran a finger over it. The surface was warm to her touch. "I mean, I know it's a rune, but for what I don't know."

He smiled as he took the necklace from the box and stepped behind her. Dromeda moved her hair as he draped it across her neck. He said, "It's the rune that means strength. It is to remind you to always be strong, to help you never forget that you are your own person, not your sisters'. Never forget or be afraid to stand up to your family and believe in what your heart tells you is true."

He fastened it and kissed the bare skin at the base of her neck, making her shiver. He came around in front of her, taking her hands and looked into her eyes.

She beamed at him and stood up on her tiptoes, pushing herself up so her lips met his softly. "It really is beautiful... Thank you..."

He nodded with a smile, obviously pleased that she liked her gift. He let go of her hands, wrapping her in his arms instead and pulling her close, gazing down into her eyes. Dromeda touched his face and pushed her fingers gently back through his smooth, dark gold locks.

A few moments later, she pulled herself away and grinned up at him. "Now you get your gift!" she chirped happily.

He looked at her confused, his head cocked to the one side. "Mine?"

"Yeah silly!" she giggled, bending down and picking up a box wrapped in shiny blue paper that had just appeared under the tree. "You got me something, why shouldn't I get something for you in return?"

He smiled some. "But _I'm_ supposed to spoil _you_!"

"And spoil me all you will, but that doesn't stop the fact that you are _still_ getting something from me for Christmas. So hush and open it!" She thrust the package into his hands.

He laughed some and took it graciously, ripping the paper off and pulling out the box inside. When he pulled the box open, his eyes widened and he nearly dropped the whole thing on the floor when he saw the ornately decorated bottle with the golden and amber bird perched on top for the stopper.

"Where..." he said breathless. "Where did you get these? It must have cost you a fortune!"

Dromeda smiled some, hoping that his disbelief was mixed with happiness. "Phoenix tears have healing powers," she said, avoiding the price topic. "I thought you could use them, considering your chosen career path in the medicinal field..."

He looked up at her, amazment and adoration evident all over his features. "Dromeda," he said, calling her by the affectionate nickname he'd given her, "this is too much. I...I cant accept-"

She put her finger over his lips. "Hush. I wanted to. It was my money and how I spend it is up to me."

He astonishment gave way to his normal crooked grin as he sat the bottle gently on the table and hugged her. "Thank you, so much. They're wonderful. I only wish I could have gotten you more now..."

She pulled back from him a second time, this time to give him a look. "You think I want things? You think that I really care about the material possessions? Ted, I have all of that. Look at what my family is. I don't care about diamonds or pearls, or expensive, extravagant gifts! That's not the kind of person I am." She held his face and made him look into her eyes. "I don't care about money, not anymore, not since I met you. You have shown me that having stuff doesn't mean anything, but it does matter who you are, and what you do with your life. And you caring for me, despite of what my family is and what they could do to you, that is all the more gift I could ever want."

Teddy searched the girls face for a few moments before pulling her into another hug, almost smothering her. "Dromeda, I don't have a lot of money, and I'm not like you, but to hear you say that you don't care about any of that...I feel like I've just won the lotto..."

Dromeda made a face. "The what?"

He chuckled some. "Never mind. Someday, I'll take you home to meet my family, maybe then you'll understand." He loosed his grip a little, and stroked her hair as they stood embracing one another.

"Your family?" Her voice was nervous. "As in..muggles?"

"What's wrong with muggles?"

"Nothing, it's just..." She sighed some. "I don't know how to behave around muggles, I don't know what your lot does for fun, or what anything that you grew up with is, like this lotto business."

He laughed again. "'My lot' isn't any different from you, with the exception of magic. We eat, we breath, we love, we have families, we play sports."

She smiled at the way he tried to comfort her, but the thought of meeting Teddy's family sometime still terrified her. Would they like her, or would they be scared of her when they found out what she was exactly.

And what she was was the daughter of a man who thought all muggles, mudbloods, and half-breeds should be slaughtered.

Teddy kissed her head. "Stop worrying. You act like I'm taking you home today to meet them," he teased.

"Hush..." she said, pushing him some, with a smile. She reached up to touch her necklace, and felt a sense of ease and relaxation wash over her, like she didn't have to worry because she'd be strong enough to handle anything. She smiled some at that, not knowing if it was the rune doing its work, or her just thinking that it was, but it helped, and for that she was grateful.

Teddy watched her, fascinated by this girl that he had in his life. She was unlike any girl he'd ever met. For starters, he thought that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever met in his life. Her eyes were like melted, warm, dark chocolate, and were the kindest eyes he'd ever had the pleasure of getting lost in. Her hair was like black silk when he touched it, and he had to try very hard to not always be playing with it.

The part that astounded him the most, however was the fact that she was a wealthy pureblooded witch, raised to hate him, but here she was with him. He didn't have money. Even in the muggle world his family wasn't that great off. But she had stood there, and told him how much she didn't care about all of that. All she cared about was him, and that his feelings for her meant more to her than any amount of material fortune ever could. The prospect of that astonished him.

"Iloveyou," he blurted out quietly.

Dromeda's head snapped towards him. "What?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, looking away and picking up the bottle of phoenix tears. "So you never answered me. Where did you get them?"

Dromeda looked at him suspiciously. Had he just said...no, he couldn't have, could he? "My family knows some people." He raised an eyebrow at her. "A friend of a cousin that I met once when I traveled to India for the summer. She has a phoenix and is actually where St. Mungo's gets the supply when they have them. People were getting too greedy however, and she stopped supplying them. I wrote to her two weeks ago and asked her if she had any, and I got that bottle in return, saying that it was the last batch of tears that her phoenix ever produced in a mass amount."

Teddy nodded and looked at the bottle as he sank into a seat on the sofa. "I'm amazed. I've never seen a bottle of them before." He held it up to the light, swirling the opal-coloured liquid around inside.

Dromeda sat beside him. "I hope they serve you well," she smiled.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm sure they will. Especially if I keep being clumsy and knock you over again."

She laughed and rolled her eyes some. "Please don't. I've been injured enough for one year."

He smiled and put his arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her head as she lay it on his shoulder.

To never move from that spot with Teddy was how Dromeda wished she could spend the rest of her life.

Much to her impending dismay, it would be one of the last happy times she would get for a very long while...


End file.
